1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trunking accessory for making up trunking comprising two or more juxtaposed lengths with different heights, each length of trunking including a base section provided with two lateral flanges with rims directed toward each other and including members for mounting a length of cover section.
In the present context, the height of a length of trunking refers to its thickness or its depth, corresponding to the height of its lateral walls.
In the present context, the expression xe2x80x9cjuxtaposed lengthsxe2x80x9d refers to lengths that follow on from each other without necessarily being in contact, so that they can be separated by a plate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It can be beneficial to modify the height of trunking along its path, in particular to reduce the cost of an electrical installation, since it may prove necessary to use deep trunking at the head end of an electrical installation, to accommodate all of the electrical power supply conductors and/or cables of the installation, whereas, toward the outlying ends of the installation, the trunking used can be shallower and, more generally, smaller.
It can also be beneficial to change the height of trunking to accommodate locally therein an electrical device on top of the volume provided inside the trunking for running electrical power supply conductors and/or cables, without encroaching this volume.
A jointing accessory for establishing continuity between lengths of trunking of different heights is already known to the person skilled in the art. It comprises a molding or casting having the general appearance of a cover with a portion for closing off each length of trunking bordered by lateral skirts, each of its ends having the same dimensions as one of the two lengths of trunking, in order to be connected thereto.
The present invention proposes a new accessory that is inexpensive to produce, compared to the above prior art, which can be fitted to trunking with one-piece or composite base sections, which can serve as a jointing member for joining two base sections with different heights or as a height extender member for increasing the height of a single base section, and which is simple and quick to use, whilst producing an attractive installation and providing limited access to the various compartments of the trunking if the trunking is compartmentalized.
To be more precise, the invention proposes a trunking accessory for making up trunking comprising two or more juxtaposed lengths with different heights and including a base section provided with two lateral flanges with rims directed toward each other and including members for mounting a length of cover section, wherein the accessory includes two or more cheeks adapted to be attached to the parallel lateral flanges, and each cheek includes members for mounting a length of cover section that extend along a line having at least two opposite curves to establish continuity between members for mounting a length of cover section situated at two different heights so that the accessory allows mounting on the cheeks of a length of cover section adapted to close the base section of the trunking so that the step formed between the juxtaposed lengths with different heights and a portion thereof can be closed by a single length of cover section with no interruption or visible edge or crease at the location of the step.
In a first embodiment of the accessory according to the invention the opposite curves are adjacent.
In a second embodiment of the accessory according to the invention the opposite curves are separated from each other by a rectilinear portion.
In another embodiment of the accessory according to the invention, for establishing continuity between two lengths of trunking having different heights and each including a base section with two lateral flanges, each cheek includes mounting members for attaching it to the base sections at the junction of two juxtaposed lateral flanges of different heights to ensure a continuous wall between the lateral flanges and to establish continuity between the members for mounting a length of cover section on the rims of the lateral flanges situated at different heights.
Another embodiment of the accessory according to the invention includes at least two height extenders each including a rim including members for mounting a length of cover section and members for mounting it on a lateral flange of the base section of the trunking to increase the height of the lateral flange and locally form a length of trunking of greater height than the base section, the cheeks including members for mounting them on the lateral flanges and on the height extenders so that each cheek establishes a continuous wall between a lateral flange of the base section of the trunking and a height extender and continuity between the members for mounting a length of cover section on a rim on a height extender and the members for mounting a length of cover section on a rim on a lateral flange situated at different heights.
This embodiment of the accessory can advantageously comprise a plurality of height extenders with different lengths adapted to be stacked to form a height extender wall of globally pyramidal shape with a step formed at each junction between a first height extender and a second height extender of shorter length, the height extender wall comprising members for mounting a length of cover section and members for mounting it on a lateral flange of the base section of the trunking to increase the height of the lateral flange and a plurality of cheeks each adapted to establish continuity between two successive height extenders with different lengths.
In another embodiment of the accessory according to the invention each cheek comprises members for mounting a length of cover section that extend along a line having two opposite curves at its ends and a rectilinear path between its two ends and members for mounting it on a lateral flange of the base section of the trunking to increase the height of the lateral flange and locally form a length of trunking of greater height than the base section of the trunking, ensuring a continuity of members for mounting a length of cover section between the two heights of the lengths of trunking.
Another embodiment of the accessory according to the invention includes another cheek adapted to establish a continuous wall between two dividing partitions with different heights attached to the back of each base section of the trunking, wherein the other cheek includes a strip ensuring a continuous wall between rims of the dividing partitions in which are mounted the length of cover section for closing the compartment of each base section, and the strip includes members for mounting the length of cover section extending along a line having at least two opposite curves to establish continuity between members for mounting a length of cover section situated at two different heights and to close the step formed between the lengths of trunking of different heights and a portion of each pair of butt-jointed compartments of the lengths of trunking using a single length of cover section with no interruption or visible edge or crease at the location of the step.
Other nonlimiting and advantageous features of the accessory according to the invention are as follows:
the members for mounting a length of cover section provided on each cheek are substantially identical to the members for mounting a length of cover section provided on the rims of the lateral flanges or the dividing partitions of each base section of the trunking;
the members for mounting a length of cover section provided on each height extender are substantially identical to the members for mounting a length of cover section provided on the ribs of the lateral flanges of the base section of the trunking;
the members for mounting a length of cover section provided on the cheeks include members for engaging the lengths of cover section;
the engagement members on each cheek include a groove which ensures continuity of grooves provided on rims situated at different heights;
the members provided on each cheek for mounting a length of cover section include clipping members for clipping the length of cover section;
the clipping members include, for each cheek, a clipping bead which ensures a continuity of clipping beads between clipping beads provided on rims at different heights;
the members for mounting cheeks on the lateral flanges of the base section of the trunking are identical to the members for mounting a length of cover section on the rims of the lateral flanges of the base section of the trunking;
the members for mounting a height extender on a lateral flange of the base section of the trunking are substantially identical to the members for mounting a length of cover section on the rims of a lateral flange of the base section of the trunking; and
each cheek has a height that can be modified by cutting off a portion thereof along a particular cutting line to adapt the height of each cheek to those of the lateral flanges of lengths of trunking with different heights.
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are provided by way of nonlimiting example, explains in what the invention consists and how it can be put into practice.